Realization that I shoulda had many moons ago: It's not IMPOSSIBLE to create alone, but.... easier if you're part of communities....

Been a crazy month. Job stuff and life and family stuff, juggled in the air with a few meetings with the new writing group, full of very kind and generous folks. I'd been part of (and even had started) writing groups before, but more often than not, they fall by the wayside after a few months. Why does this group succeed whereas the others failed? I don't know all the variables, but one thing seems to be key: NO CRITICISM is the rule. Odd how just sharing with an audience and sitting at a table writing together can be calming and suprisingly far more productive than I would have thought. (The previous writer groups were critique- based, although I still think there is merit to those as well) Anyhow...

The problem of working alone has it's pluses and minuses. The plus side is: nobody is giving you a deadline, and there's no need to be accountable to anybody but yourself. There's no pressure.

The bad side to working alone is just that: there's no pressure.

In any case, the group is full of very nice folks, but I know full well that if I want to be more productive, I can't just depend on one group to keep me on track. However, I compare it to having to meet someone to go out and jog. If there's always an excuse NOT to jog, it's harder to dismiss jogging or putting it aside if there's going to be another person waiting for you at a certain time to be there.

So, what am I saying?

Writer's group was a great start.

Maybe this time around I should be part of a FEW creator groups. More than one writer's group. And artist's group as well? Maybe...

In any case, still lots of juggling before the end of the new year...